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A Sketch of the Religious History of the Negroes 

in the South 

By 

Richard Clark Reed 



175 






,:;i.ft 

-? ^ -nf^^c^^ Institution 
0f Wasliington 



A SKETCH OF THE RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF THE 
NEGROES IN THE SOUTH 

By Richard Clark Reed, Professor of Church History 

IN Columbia Theological Seminary, Columbia, 

South Carolina 

{Read December ji, IQ12) 

" A BOUT the last of August came in a Dutch man of warre 
**■ that sold us twenty negars. " Thus reads the ancient 
official record which chronicles in those few words one of the 
most fateful events that has found place in the annals of our 
country, the introduction of African slavery. The year was 
1619, and the place was the little colony of Jamestown, then 
in the thirteenth year of its existence. The institution at 
once took root downward and bore fruit upward. The trade 
rapidly grew and the market enlarged despite many earnest 
protests, until throughout the thirteen colonies ready sale 
was found for all the slaves that were offered. The traffic 
continued for one hundred and eighty-nine years, and when 
it was finally suppressed in 1808, there was a slave popula- 
tion in the United States numbering considerably over one 
million. From the first the most popular market was in the 
South, and ultimately the institution became localized in 
that section. This was not because of difference of mental 
and moral attitude in the two sections, but because of differ- 
ent climatic and economic conditions. 

These imported slaves belonged ethnologically to the negro 
race as distinguished from the other races that inhabit Africa. 
The author of an article in the American Encyclopedia says, 

177 



178 Religious History of the Southern Negroes 



The term negro denotes an ideal type distinguished by cer- 
tain physical characters, such as are seen in the people of the 
coast of Guinea, viz., — black skin, woolly hair, flat nose, thick 
everted lips, and a prognathous form of skull. Negroes occupy 
about one half of Africa, excluding the northern and southern 
extremities. Out of Africa they are found throughout America 
and the West Indies. 



James Anthony Froude, in depicting the character of the 
slave population of the West Indies says: "Evidently they 
belonged to a race far inferior to the Zulus and Caff res whom 
I had known in South Africa. They would have been slaves 
in their own country, if they had not been brought to ours ; 
and at the worst had lost nothing by the change. " Evidence 
of the extreme degradation of the Africans who were brought 
to our shores is furnished by the fact that the traders se- 
cured their cargo through the agency of the Africans them- 
selves. It was their own flesh and blood who tore the slaves 
away from their miserable homes, burning their villages, 
chasing them down, mutilating and destroying many to 
gratify their selfish greed by selling into bondage those whom 
they managed to take alive. 

It is well to bear in mind that American slavery dealt 
with one of the lowest orders of the human family. The 
law of evolution, which is credited by some of our modem 
scientists with an energy that is well-nigh, if not altogether, 
equal to achieving the miracle of creation, seems to have 
given up its task in despair in the case of the African negro. 
What he was when he first emerged into the light of history 
that he is to-day, the same low savage, living usually in a 
state of nudity, and under the power of crude and debasing 
superstitions. He has never evolved any national organiza- 
tion, nor any system of laws, nor any settled family life. 
He has never evolved a schoolhouse, nor a text-book, nor 
even an alphabet out of which a book might be made. This 
is not saying that he is incapable of development. It has 



Religious History of the Southern Negroes 179 



been demonstrated ex abundante that he is capable of in- 
definite development. But he seems incapable of self- 
development. He does not embody in himself any law of 
evolution. Stimulus and guidance must come from without. 
In studying the religious history of these people in their 
new home, it will be in the interest of clearness to divide 
the history into three periods: First, the Colonial period, 
second, the period between the Revolutionary War and the 
Civil War; third, the period since the Civil War. These were 
epoch-marking periods in the history of our country, and 
the changes which they introduced had much influence over 
the lives of the colored population. 

I. The Colonial Period 

The chief source of data of this period is Religious In- 
struction of the Negroes, by Rev. Charles Colcock Jones, D.D., 
Savannah, Ga., 1842. Dr. Jones was a minister of the 
Presbyterian Church in the South. He was distinguished 
for intellectual gifts and attainments, and for saintliness of 
character. He was an ardent friend of the slaves, devoted 
much time to evangelistic work among them, and prepared 
and published for use in their religious instruction a mpst 
admirable and widely used catechism. 

The Colonial period covers 157 years. During this time 
the nimiber of slaves increased from twenty to 500,000. As 
nearly as can be ascertained, these were distributed among 
the thirteen colonies as follows: Massachusetts, 3500; Rhode 
Island, 4373; Connecticut, 6000; New Hampshire, 659; New 
York, 15,000; New Jersey, 7600; Delaware, 9000; Pennsyl- 
vania, 10,000; Maryland, 80,000; Virginia, 165,000; North 
Carolina, 75,000; South Carolina, 110,000; Georgia, 16,000; 
making a total of 502,132. Of this total, 446,000 were in the 
five southern colonies of Maryland, Virginia, North Caro- 
lina, South Carolina, and Georgia. In the other eight 
colonies, the nimibers were relatively so few that their 



i8o Religious History of the Southern Negroes 



evangelization did not constitute a distinct problem, or if so, 
it was not one of great magnitude. There are indications 
that from the first introduction of slaves into the New Eng- 
land colonies, efforts were made for their conversion. The 
religious spirit was intense in these colonies, and they were 
more richly supplied with the means of grace. However, the 
efforts put forth in behalf of the slaves were not such as to 
satisfy tender consciences. John Eliot and Cotton Mather 
complain that no more was done, and assign as one reason 
for the neglect of the religious instruction of the slaves the 
"fear of thereby losing the benefit of their vassalage. " This 
fear was commdn throughout the colonies. From medieval 
times the faith of the Church had been that it was proper to 
enslave heathen people, but not Christian. It seemed to 
follow logically that when heathen slaves were converted 
they should be manimiitted. Hence the thrifty colonists, 
having invested their money in slaves, and having enjoyed 
the profits of their labor for a time, were reluctant to seek 
their conversion. This might mean the loss of their invest- 
ments. Specific action was taken in some of the colonies to 
allay this fear. For instance, a law was enacted in Virginia 
in 1667, declaring: "Baptisme doth not alter the condition of 
the f/erson as to his bondage or freedom, in order that divers 
masters freed from this doubt may more carefully endeavor 
the propagation of Christianity. " The fear was not entirely 
allayed until an opinion was secured from his majesty's 
attorney and solicitor-generals in the early part of the 
eighteenth century. This opinion, signed by these two dis- 
tinguished legal lights, was distributed widely through the 
colonies. Thus a serious obstacle was removed, and pre- 
sumably "divers masters more carefully endeavored the 
propagation of Christianity." 

During this period, the most lively interest in the 
religious welfare of the slaves was manifested by the Chris- 
tians of Great Britain. It is not uncommon for sympathy 
for a degraded people to increase in proportion to distance. 



Religious History of the Southern Negroes i8i 



The explanation is that sympathy at a distance is not chilled 
by contact with the degraded people, with those whose 
coarse natures, offensive habits, uncouth appearance, and 
vicious propensities are a source of constant irritation. 
Perhaps the first active expression of this sympathy ' was in 
a pamphlet by Richard Baxter, bearing date 1673. This 
pamphlet contained "directions to those masters in foreign 
plantations who have negroes and other slaves; being a 
solution of several cases about them." Wide circulation 
was given to this pamphlet among those for whom it was de- 
signed and it is believed that much good was accomplished 
by it. Far more effective efforts, however, were put forth 
by the "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign 
Parts." This society was organized under William III, 
June 16, 1 70 1. Thomas Tenison, archbishop of Canterbury 
and primate of all England, was appointed by his majesty the 
first president. The society was patronized by the king and 
all the dignitaries of the Church of England. The work of 
the society consisted of three great branches: "The care and 
instruction of all the church's own people settled in the 
colonies; the conversion of the Indian savages; and the 
conversion of the negroes. " Very naturally the society acted 
on the maxim that the "Children must first be fed." So 
many of these were destitute that after they had been only 
partially and even meagerly supplied, little more than 
crumbs was left for the poor Indians and negroes. The first 
missionary of this society. Rev. Samuel Thomas, was sent 
to South Carolina in 1702. In reporting his labors to the 
society he said that he "had taken much pains also in in- 
structing the negroes, and had learned 20 of them to read." 
His successor in 1706 was Dr. Lejeau. He reports that he 
"found parents and masters indued with much good-will 
and a ready disposition to have their children and servants 
taught the christian religion," and further that he "had 
baptized many negroes and Indian slaves. " Dr. Lejeau was 
probably disposed to paint in roseate hues, as he had but 



1 82 Religious History of the Southern Negroes 



eight negro communicants at the end of his eight years of 
service. 

Missionaries from this society labored in North Carolina, 
Pennsylvania, New York, and in the New England colonies ; 
all of whom it seems devoted a part of their time to the 
spiritual good of the negroes. A school was established in 
New York City in 1704, at which date it was computed that 
there were 1500 negro and Indian slaves in the city. Mr. 
Elias Neau was appointed catechist. It is reported that 
many negroes were instructed and baptized. This school 
was continued after Mr. Neau's death in 1722 for several 
years with considerable success. Dr. Frederick Dalcho, in his 
History of South Carolina, relates that through the influences 
and exertions of Commissary Garden a schoolhouse was 
built in Charleston by private subscription, and opened in 
1742. The Commissary purchased at the expense of the 
society two negro boys, to whom were given the baptismal 
names of Harry and Andrew. They were placed in the 
school, and when sufficiently qualified were made teachers. 
Fifteen years from the opening of the school, the society 
was informed that it was still flourishing and full of children. 
Five years later it was closed for the reason that Andrew had 
died and Harry had gone to the bad. 

The society continued its efforts to advance the cause of 
religion in the colonies until 1783, when the colonies were 
separated from the mother country. Throughout this whole 
period it showed an unabated concern for the souls of the 
African slaves, frequently admonishing its missionaries to 
use their best endeavors in their behalf and to stir up the 
masters to assist in the work. Dr. Tiffany, in his History of 
the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of 
America, summing up the labors of this society, says: "It 
had stimulated and supported missions to the negroes and 
Indians as well as the white colonists. Its labors were 
chiefly in those colonies where the church was not estab- 
lished. " It was this policy of the society to put forth its 



Religious History of the Southern Negroes 183 



chief energies where the Church was not estabHshed that 
provoked the rather unamiable criticism of Cotton Mather. 
"The society, very Httle to their honor," he says, "send 
forth and support their missionaries to maintain confusion in 
towns of well instructed Christians, while at the same time 
whole plantations of the southern colonies, where is perfect 
paganism, are left wholly uncared for." This statement, to 
say the least of it, is too sweeping, for, as we have seen, the 
society did not leave the paganism in the southern colonies 
"wholly uncared for. " But it is true that the negroes were 
far more numerous and far more in need of missionary ser- 
vice in those colonies where the Church was established, and 
where according to Dr. Tiffany the society bestowed least of 
its labors. 

In 1738 the Moravian Church, under the lead of Count 
Zinzendorf, took steps to establish a mission exclusively to 
the negroes. Dr. Bray of England had left funds to be 
devoted to the conversion of negro slaves in South Carolina. 
Those in charge of these funds asked the Count to procure 
missionaries for them. He objected that the Church of 
England might hesitate to recognize the ordination of Mo- 
ravian missionaries. The question was referred to Dr. Potter, 
Archbishop of Canterbury, who gave it as his opinion that 
"the Moravians being members of an Episcopal Church whose 
doctrines contained nothing contrary to the Thirty-nine 
Articles ought not to be denied free access to the heathen." 
This very cautious answer removed any scruples from the 
minds of the trustees of the funds, and they forthwith em- 
ployed two missionaries. These went to Georgia, hoping to 
be forwarded on their journey by a colony of Moravians who 
had settled there. But obstacles were thrown in their way 
and they turned aside from their original purpose. Ten 
years later certain Moravian Brethren belonging to Bethle- 
hem, Pennsylvania, undertook several long and difficult 
journeys through Maryland, Virginia, and the borders of 
North Carolina, preaching the Gospel to the negroes. Oppo- 



i84 Religious History of the Southern Negroes 



sition developed on the part of the proprietors, who were not 
willing to have strangers instruct their slaves, as they had 
their own ministers whom they paid to do this work. Owing 
to various hindrances, the efforts of the Moravians accom- 
plished little. 

While no other Church, during the colonial period, estab- 
lished missions exclusively for the purpose of reaching the 
slaves, there is evidence that considerable interest was felt 
on the subject by the ministry generally, and also by Chris- 
tian laymen who owned slaves. In 1747, Rev. Samuel 
Davies began his notable work in Virginia. His heart 
yearned with compassion over the benighted slaves. He 
estimated that as many as 1000 attended' on his ministry at 
his different preaching places. 

Never have I been so struck [he wrote] with the appearance 
of an assembly as when I have glanced an eye to that part of the 
meeting house where they usually sit, adorned (for so it seemed 
to me) with so many black countenances eagerly attentive to 
every word they hear and frequently bathed in tears. A con- 
siderable number of them (about a hundred) have been bap- 
tized, after a proper time for instruction. 

In 1757 he wrote to Dr. Bellamy: 

What little success I have lately had has been chiefl}^ among 
the extremes of gentlemen and negroes. Indeed God has been 
remarkably working among the latter. I have baptized about 
150 adults; and at the last sacramental solemnity, I had the 
pleasure of seeing the table graced with about sixty black faces. 

George Whitefield, on his frequent visits to America, 
showed a deep concern for the slaves. In an extended letter 
written from Savannah in 1740, and published in the fourth 
volume of his works, he excoriated in no mild manner the 
masters for their treatment of the "poor negroes, " censuring 
them especially for neglecting the souls of their slaves. He 
showed his concern not in word only, but also in deed 



Religious History of the Southern Negroes 185 



preaching to them with great deHght and with powerful 
effect as often as opportunity offered. 

Methodism was introduced into this country in 1766. 
There was Httle time, during the period we are now consider- 
ing, for it to show its attitude towards the slaves. It did not, 
however, leave itself without a witness. Mr. Pillmore, one 
of the missionaries sent out by Mr. Wesley in 1769, says: 
"The number of blacks that attend the preaching affects me 
much." From 1773 to 1776 there was a great revival in 
Virginia, extending down into North Carolina, under the 
preaching of the Methodists in connection with Mr. Jarratt 
of the Episcopal Church. Hundreds of blacks attended the 
meetings along with the whites, sitting in the same chapels 
and showing by their tears the effect of the Gospel on their 
hearts, in many cases, doubtless, its saving effect. 

The reports and narratives from which the foregoing 
data are taken make clearly evident that manifold efforts, of 
quite limited extent it must be admitted, were put forth for 
the spiritual benefit of the slaves. The owners did some- 
thing both in the way of personal efforts, and in the way of 
employing others to instruct them ; a few catechetical schools 
were established for them; some were taught to read and 
books were distributed among them; they were allowed the 
rest and privilege of the Sabbath; a good many were bap- 
tized and received into the fellowship of the churches; in a 
word, a general interest, if not as earnest and profound as it 
should have been, was felt for them throughout the colonies. 
Such an interest was officially expressed when slavery was 
introduced into Georgia in 1747. Twenty- three representa- 
tives from the different districts met in Savannah, and hav- 
ing elected Major Horton president, they resolved that "the 
owners of slaves should educate the young, and use every 
possible means of making religious impressions on the minds 
of the aged ; and that all acts of inhumanity should be pun- 
ished by the civil authorities. " Such expressions of interest 
were not always followed by corresponding activity. 



i86 Religious History of the Southern Negroes 



After the best showing for this period that can be made, 
the truth must be confessed that the reHgious interests of the 
negroes were deplorably neglected. The average of piety in 
the colonies was not high. Most of those who came to found 
homes in the new world were not missionary in spirit. They 
did not buy slaves to see how much good they could do 
them. It was the body, not the soul of the African that 
elicited their interest; his strength to toil, not his capacity 
for religion that made him attractive. It must not be over- 
looked, however, that the circumstances were exceedingly 
imfavorable for any extensive and persistent endeavors to 
give the Gospel to the negroes. The country was in a forma- 
tive state, its oldest parts but newly settled, fresh colonists 
continually coming in, and the older colonists pushing on to 
fresh conquests of the wilderness. Frequent wars with the 
Indians, wars with the Dutch, the French, and the Spaniards 
contributed to the disorder and demoralization of the colo- 
nies. Ministers of the Gospel were few, and of necessity not 
the blacks only but the whites also were neglected. 

2. The Period between the Great Wars 

For several years after the Revolutionary War its evil 
effects on religious enterprise were painfully apparent. 
Among these evil effects was French infidelity, which threw 
a blight over a wide extent of territory. It was not till the 
closing years of the century that the reHgious forces of the 
country regained something of their lost vigor, and began to 
make themselves decidedly felt in the lives of the people. 
In 1799 occurred the great awakening in Kentucky. It 
continued over quite a period and wrought marvelous 
changes in large sections of the Southern states. Presbyteri- 
ans, Methodists, and Baptists joined in the work of kindling 
and spreading the revival fires. As one of the results of this 
spiritual awakening, it is estimated that between three and 
four thousand negroes were converted > 



Religious History of the Southern Negroes 187 



The Methodist Church was the first of the denominations 
to prepare a separate roll for the colored communicants. It 
began this custom as early as 1786, at which time it reported 
1890 colored members. The year following, the number had 
reached 3893, showing that the Church more than doubled 
this class of members in twelve months. The Methodists 
seem to have led all the churches in the persistent, self- 
denying zeal by which they sought to bring the slaves to a 
knowledge of salvation. By 18 15, they had gathered in as 
the fruits of this zeal a membership of 43,187. That year 
there was a defection in the colored membership and an 
independent Church was organized, known as the African 
Methodist Episcopal Church, under the lead of Richard 
Allen. This defection, which began in Philadelphia and 
spread to New York the next year, retarded temporarily the 
growth of the colored element in the Methodist Church, but 
did not abate its energies. Not content with having its 
ministers share their time and labors between white and 
black, in 1830 missions were commenced for the special 
benefit of the slave population in the states of South Carolina 
and Georgia. Six years later, the bishops, in a letter to the 
Wesleyan Methodist Conference of England, referring to the 
slaves, say : 

In addition to those who are rpingled with our white congrega- 
tions, we have several prosperous missions exclusively for their 
spiritual benefit, which have been and are still owned of God 
to the conversion of many precious souls. On the plantations of 
the South and Southwest our devoted missionaries are laboring 
for the salvation of the slaves, catechizing their children, and 
bringing all within their influence, as far as possible, to the 
saving knowledge of Jesus Christ ; and we need hardly add that 
we shall most gladly avail ourselves, as we have ever done, of all 
the means in our power to promote their best interests. 

A few years later, the Missionary Society of the Methodist 
Church reports : 



i88 Religious History of the Southern Negroes 



In no portion of our work are our missionaries called to endure 
greater privations or make greater sacrifices of health and life 
than in these missions among the slaves, many of which are lo- 
cated in sections of the Southern country which are proverbially 
sickly, and under the fatal influence of a climate which few white 
men are capable of enduring even for a single year. And yet 
notwithstanding so many valuable missionaries have fallen 
martyrs to their toils in these missions, year after year there are 
found others to take their places, who fall likewise in their work; 
for the love of Christ and the love of the souls of these poor 
Africans in bonds, constrain our brethren in the itinerant work 
of the Southern Conferences to exclaim, "here are we, send us. " 

In the Presbyterian Church the interest awakened by 
Samuel Da vies continued after his departure. The work 
was taken up later by such distinguished ministers as Dr. 
Archibald Alexander, and Dr. John Holt Rice. The latter 
was employed for a time as a special missionary to the blacks. 
It is a matter of record, that one prominent object which Dr. 
Rice had in view in devoting himself to the founding of a 
Theological Seminary in Prince Edward County, Virginia, 
was that a ministry might be educated at home and fitted 
for effective service in a field composed of both masters and 
slaves. The same is true in reference to those through whose 
initiative the Theological Seminary in Columbia, South 
Carolina, was established and endowed. 

In 1817, Hanover Presbytery, Virginia, addressed a circu- 
lar letter to the churches under its care, solemnly exhorting 
them not to neglect their duty to their servants. In 18 16, 
the General Assembly was asked: "Ought baptism on the 
promise of the master be administered to the children of his 
slaves?" The answer was twofold : 

(i) It is the duty of masters who are members of the church, 
to present the children of parents in servitude to the ordinance of 
baptism, provided they are in a situation to train them up in the 
nurture and admonition of the Lord, thus securing to them, the 
rich advantages which the gospel promises. (2) It is the duty of 



Religious History of the Southern Negroes 189 



Christian ministers to inculcate this doctrine and to baptize all 
children of this description when presented to them by their 
masters. 

Both the Congregational and Episcopal Churches gave ex- 
pression to the same views on this subject. In no way could 
they bear more signal testimony to the obligation which they 
recognized as resting on Christian masters to share the 
blessings of the Gospel with their dependent slaves. 

It was the rule of Presbyterian ministers, whose pastor- 
ates were in slave-holding sections, to preach to negroes 
along with the whites, sittings being provided for them in the 
white churches. They were also accustomed to hold special 
services for them-. By these means they gathered great 
numbers of colored members into their churches, these 
frequently far outnumbering the white communicants. 
White and black were subject to the same entrance test, and 
afterwards to the same oversight and discipline. 

Synods and Presbyteries spent much time in considering 
methods for reaching the slaves with religious instruction, 
and in the narratives presented from year to year to these 
bodies we learn that there was no little activity among the 
ministry in this behalf. For example, in the narrative of the 
Synod of Mississippi and Alabama for the year 1834, it is 
recorded : 

All our ministers feel a deep interest in the instruction of the 
colored part of our population. A few of us, owing to peculiar 
circumstances, have little opportunity of preaching to them 
separately and at stated times, but embrace every opportunity 
that offers; others devote a portion of every Sabbath; others a 
half of every Sabbath ; and two of our number preach exclusively 
to them. 

In South Carolina and Georgia, perhaps also in other 
states, associations of planters were formed for the special 
object of affording religious instruction to the negroes, by 
their own efforts, and by missionaries employed for the 



190 Religious History of the Southern Negroes 



purpose. Those associations were undenominational, bring- 
ing to the fellowship of a common work members of all the 
Evangelical Churches. 

The Baptist Church had its beginning in this country in 
Rhode Island. It was slow in spreading South, but no sooner 
did it come into contact with the Southern negroes than 
these showed a decided preference for it. Two things may 
account for this, apart from their discernment of the superior 
merits of this Chiurch. First, its mode of administering bap- 
tism appealed to their love of the spectacular; and second, 
its democratic form of government gratified their sense of 
individual importance. It was difficult to hold them in the 
Presbyterian and Episcopal Churches, if they had an oppor- 
tunity to desert to the Baptist. Both these Churches had 
many years the start, and yet, in 1840, Dr. Archibald Alex- 
ander writes: "In general the negroes are followers of the 
Baptists in Virginia. " At an early period the Baptists 
gathered them into churches of their own and placed over 
them preachers of their own race, not however relinquishing 
all oversight. A colored Baptist church of sixty-nine mem- 
bers was organized in Savannah, Georgia, in 1788. The 
pastor was Andrew Bryan, a man of good sense and of zeal 
unquenchable. When he began to gather the colored people 
and to exhort them, he was reprimanded and forbidden to 
continue the practice. When threats did not deter him, he 
was imprisoned. This failing, he was publicly whipped; 
whereupon he declared that he rejoiced not only to be 
whipped, but would gladly suffer death for the cause of 
Jesus Christ. His apostolic spirit put to shame his adversa- 
ries, and he was permitted to pursue his career without 
further molestation. We have an interesting picture of him 
as he appeared in his old age. 

His fleecy and well-set locks [writes a contemporary] have 
been bleached by eighty winters; and dressed like a bishop of 
London, he rides, moderately corpulent, in his chair, and with 



Religious History of the Southern Negroes 191 



manly features of a jetty hue, fills every person to whom he 
gracefully bows with pleasure and veneration, by displaying in 
smiles even rows of natural teeth, white as ivory, and a pair of 
fine black eyes, sparkling with intelligence, benevolence and joy. 

It is estimated that by the year 1803, the colored mem- 
bers belonging to the Baptist Church numbered 18,000. 
Twenty years later the estimate was 40,000. While the white 
Baptist churches had no societies exclusively for evangeliz- 
ing the negroes, their associations frequently laid the duty 
on the hearts and consciences of their people. Multitudes of 
colored preachers among the African Baptists in the South- 
em states were preaching to their own color on the planta- 
tions. Their preaching was broken and illiterate, but 
doubtless through this very imperfect medium the truth 
reached and benefited many souls. 

The Episcopal Church fell heir to the interest aroused 
and the efforts put forth by the Society for the Propagation 
of the Gospel. But this Church suffered more than any other 
from the Revolutionary War. It lost nearly all of its preach- 
ers and all its state support, and was left in such a languish- 
ing and disorganized condition that for some years it had to 
devote all its enfeebled energies to strengthening the things 
which remained and were ready to die. When better days 
came, it showed in many ways its continued concern for the 
negroes. Bishops Meade of Virginia and Ives of North 
Carolina were noted for their efforts to stir up those under 
their jurisdiction to a faithful discharge of their duties to 
their slaves. Bishop Dehon of South Carolina was abundant 
in personal labors, and thus by example as well as by precept 
encouraged among masters and mistresses in his fiock that 
best kindness to their servants — a concern for their eternal 
salvation. The Episcopal Convention in South Carolina in 
1838, "Resolved, that it is respectfully recommended to the 
members of our church who are proprietors of slaves, indi- 
vidually and collectively to take measures for the support of 



192 Religious History of the Southern Negroes 



clerical missionaries and lay catechists who are members of 
our church for the religious instruction of their slaves. ' ' And 
again, "Resolved, that it be urged upon the rectors and 
vestries of our country parishes to exert themselves to obtain 
the services of such missionaries and catechists. " Carrying 
out these instructions a number of missionaries were em- 
ployed who devoted their whole time to work among the 
negroes, while the clergy generally gave freely of their labor 
to the instruction of the colored members connected with 
their churches and conducted regular and flourishing Sabbath 
schools for colored children. 

Some special difficulties deserve to be mentioned. As 
long as the slave trade continued it was a heavy handicap. 
The historian Lecky says it was shown in the English 
Parliament in 1750, when methods of making the trafflc 
more effective were under discussion, that 46,000 slaves were 
bought annually by the English colonies. It is easy to see 
how this would greatly increase the difficulties of the work. 
Every fresh importation of Africans was adding a fresh mass 
of raw heathenism to the slave population, and this retarded 
the modifying effect of all previous efforts for their evangeli- 
zation. It was like pouring a fresh tributary of muddy 
water into a stream that was beginning to clear. These new- 
comers were of a mature age and would never acquire a 
sufficient knowledge of the English language to make it easy 
to reach them with religious instruction. Among them were 
witch doctors, medicine men, who kept alive the worst 
features of their native superstitions. They competed with 
the Christian missionaries and had the advantage of con- 
stant contact and the natural bent of the African mind. 
Voodooism exists to this day, and still plays an important 
part in the social and religious life of the negroes. 

Another complication was the disposition of the slaves 
to insurrection which had to be closely watched. In 1822, a 
serious conspiracy was formed in Charleston, South Caro- 
lina, under the direction of a slave by the name of Vesey, 



Religious History of the Southern Negroes 193 



which contemplated the massacre of all the whites in the 
city. It came near realization, but the conspirators were 
betrayed and Vesey and his associates were hanged. Less 
than ten years elapsed before the famous Nat Turner insur- 
rection occurred in Virginia, in which fifty-five white per- 
sons were murdered. This spread terror all over the South 
and had a decided effect in the way of curtailing the religious 
privileges of the |wegroes. Both Vesey and Turner had been 
able to organize and mature their plots through the medium 
of negro congregations which met ostensibly for worship. 
Both were earnest students of the Bible, and taught their 
people that they were in the same relation to God as the 
Jews of old, and as the Jews were authorized of God to 
exterminate the Canaanites, so it was the divine will that 
they should destroy the whites and enter into their posses- 
sions. In consequence of these insurrections, legislation was 
passed forbidding ^egroes to preach and prohibiting their 
free assembly for public worship. 

This state of apprehension was greatly aggravated by the 
course of abolition sentiment in certain sections of the North. 
This sentiment grew violent in its expression, and was 
directed not merely against slavery as an institution but 
against all owners of slaves. No language was thought too 
intemperate to characterize their inhumanity. This aroused 
both indignation and alarm. It turned the attention of 
masters largely from the religious needs of their slaves, and 
set them on expedients for guarding against apprehended 
dangers. Laws were passed in many of the states for- 
bidding the teaching of negroes to read. This made the 
Bible a sealed book to the negro, except as it was taught 
orally. It greatly weakened the efficiency of Sabbath schools 
for the same reason. All catechetical instruction had to be 
given orally, and repeated until the slow mind of the negro 
by oft-hearing was able to retain at least a portion in mem- 
ory. The South was barred to preachers or missionaries 
from other sections. Masters were exceedingly suspicious of 



194 Religious History of the Southern Negroes 



outside influence, and only ministers known to be in sym- 
pathy with pro-slavery views were given access to the 
negroes. The South became a very uncomfortable place for 
those who in any form abetted the abolition movement. 
The Synod of the Associate Church in 1840 addressed a 
letter to congregations in the South, setting forth their 
duties with respect to emancipation. The Moderator of the 
Synod was sent to read this letter to the congregations. The 
result was a riot in one of the congregations in South Caro- 
lina, and the violent expulsion of the preacher from the state. 
A yet more tragic experience was that of a student from 
Lane Seminary. He was spending his vacation selling Bibles 
in Nashville, Tennessee, and in the surrounding country. 
Unfortunately he used copies of Garrison's Liberator to wrap 
his Bibles so as to protect them from injury while he was 
hauling them around in his buggy. Some one happening to 
notice this, jumped to the conclusion that Bible selling was a 
mere ruse. The young man was soon in the hands of an 
infuriated mob. His life was saved by the intervention of a 
few influential men of more moderate and reasonable dis- 
positions. But they had to consent to a compromise. The 
young man was whipped by the sheriff on his naked back 
in the public square and then hurried out of the community. 
This inflamed state of feeling was very unfavorable to 
missionary labors in behalf of the blacks. Self-preservation 
was the matter of first concern, and even those masters who 
felt most sensibly their obligations to the souls of their 
slaves exercised a strict vigilance to keep the negroes from 
contact with teachers who might stir them to discontent. 
The great Methodist Church, ever the ardent friend of the 
black man, came near to shutting the door of opportunity in 
its face. By its strong dehverances against slavery in its 
General Conferences, it put a heavy handicap on its preach- 
ers in the South. They were regarded by many with grave 
suspicion and in a few instances they were the victims of 
persecution by the lawless elements of society. It was a 



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